BLCA c22s02
Text As time passed, it became clear how hard the ponies were trying to follow Celestia's advice, how much her words had affected things, as ponies treated Luna and Scrivener with far more respect. And at night, there were fewer lamps on the street, and ponies began to hesitantly greet Nightmares and other beings of the shadows as they walked by... and eventually, to even try and form hesitant friendships with those beings of the darkness. There were still ponies who feared the servants of the night above all else... but they kept mostly to themselves, holding their secret meetings and muttering about preparing for the day when Ponyville finally was swarmed with evil, talking about how one day they'd be proven right and everyone else would have to beg them for help. Even Applejack was trying to be understanding, apologizing to Luna and Scrivener, and to Twilight Sparkle as well, for everything that had happened. She was still wary, but she even allowed Fluttershy's Phooka friend Nirvana to come by the farm on occasion now, despite being uncomfortable around him. Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, was relieved to see everyone back together, as were Rarity and Spike... and Apple Bloom was only glad to be able to start spending more time again with Scarlet Sage. The two fillies were almost inseparable, to the point that sometimes Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle would abandon them to their own devices in disgust... but the four friends were still as close as ever, able to depend on one-another, getting into trouble in and around Ponyville and the surrounding countryside. Pinkie Pie and Pinkamena ran Sugar Cube Corners, a strange but effective team: many ponies noted there was something stranger about Pinkamena these days, though, the way her eyes glowed, the way she tended to appear and vanish when nopony was looking... but only Twilight Sparkle and Celestia knew that Pinkamena hadn't actually spent a few days out at Scrivener and Luna's cottage not long after the zebra incident... she had spent it in the mire that had spread through the bottom of the ravine where the zebra camp had once been, having her blood drained from her body and replaced with blood from a pair of enormous demons that Luna had lured in, negotiated with... and then captured. Both had died. Pinkamena's changes had been slow and excruciating as she had lost what was left of her mortality, her physical body warping and transforming... but when the transformation was complete, she had found herself able to polymorph herself back to her mortal form, and as she'd examined this, Luna had explained gently: "Thou became a demon without dying. Thy body remembers what it's supposed to look like, and thy shape is malleable now. But do not become too excited... because much like Scrivener Blooms, changes will begin to make themselves apparent if thy emotions become... heightened." It hadn't taken her long to get used to being a demon: Pinkamena had admitted it felt like she had reached her destiny. And it also hadn't taken much urging to get her to recite the vow Luna had written for her, promising herself and her loyalty to them so she could always protect Pinkie Pie. And she had grinned afterwards, eyes glowing as she whispered: "Because now I know it's gonna get bad, you see. Oh, sure, I know. Everypony's happy right now. But this is the eye of the storm... and everypony knows that the second half of the storm makes the first look like kittens and candy in comparison." Luna had only scoffed at this, however... and for a while, it seemed as if the winged unicorn was right. Days turned to weeks turned to months of relative normalcy: Celestia began to leave Ponyville more and more often on business, and Scrivener, Scarlet Sage, Twilight Sparkle and Luna all attended her official crowning at the Temple of the Sun at the center of the nation, as she resumed her post as Queen... and announced calmly that until Canterlot was rebuilt, she would be staying first in Ponyville, and secondly in Castle Enstasis, between her royal duties. It was a surprise for the nobles who had hoped she would stay at the temple city, where the thirteen selected barons and baronesses would all regularly meet to discuss national policies and laws with the Queen... but Celestia had only smiled and replied gently: "My duty is to lead, and for now it is better that I lead from a town that represents the Equestria I know and love, than from inside the walls of a palace I do not know and that keeps me away from the ponies I care for." All the same, Celestia was now more and more often away at the Temple, working beside Nibelung assistants, and every now and then with Twilight Sparkle to accompany her on more important matters. Twilight found herself more busy as well, attending to researching laws, writing notes for Celestia, sorting letters and requests: the once mostly-empty shelves of the library were beginning to fill up with all the papers she had begun to accumulate. And yet still, Twilight found time for her friends, and time to spend with Luna and Scrivener, the ivy wrap now turned into a proper collar, the charm swaying around this and beautiful onyx stud in one ear in the shape of the crescent moon, and a black rose in the other. Spike and Rarity were finally officially announced they were dating despite the weeks that had gone by where they had obviously been seeing each other, the dragon moved comfortably in to Rarity's boutique, although he still often did work for Twilight and Celestia at the library. Rainbow Dash and Big Mac worked Sweet Apple Acres, the Pegasus grouchy that most of the Nibelung laborers were now gone and always happy to take a break when a friend came by. And Fluttershy happily cared for her Phooka, a variety of other animals, and was seen more often than not with Nirvana at her side, both welcome in almost every part of Ponyville. And outside of Ponyville, now visible on the horizon, Enstasis grew nearer and nearer to completion with each and every passing day, thanks to the hard work of countless hard workers... including now among those numbers Ross and Kilby Kwolek, who had both been pouring their efforts and expertise into the project for months now alongside Illyria and Greece. The four made an oddly-good team albeit a strange one: the earth pony mare better known as Cowlick was brash, butch, and bossy but incredibly-talented when it came to engineering and design, while Ross was gentle, a little addled, but a genius with mathematics. Cowlick had been an engineer in Ponyville, coming to the town to get away from employers in Manehattan who had wanted to trade her out to another company. As much as she'd missed the high-class laboratories and facilities of the big city, she had liked the little town, and liked it even more when she had met Luna and eventually been recruited into the Starlit Knights. She had been all-too-happy to leave Manehattan again at the request of Luna to return to the village... especially with the promise of a project. And Ross, meanwhile, had been a puppeted thrall of Blood Seers, his naivety making him an easy target for them: from what the ponies knew of him, he had lived much of his life in what they assumed was some sort of halfway house for the mentally-handicapped before he'd been kidnapped and tattooed with obedience runes. After these had faded, though, Ross had gone back to his old self, curious, kind, gentle, and panicking at the sight of blood or violence. But Cowlick had never been mean to him, however slow or confused Ross had gotten over things: and Ross, even though few ponies ever realized it, had been able to see that, how she treated him differently, normally... and had grown attached to it, and to her. When they had first arrived, both ponies had been struck by the changes in Ponyville: not just the creatures of shadow that lurked around – which bothered Ross a lot less than it did Cowlick – or the changes to both Luna and Scrivener – which bothered Cowlick much less than it did Ross – but the way the atmosphere was simply... different. Once they had been shown Enstasis, however, Cowlick had started to get excited, and whatever worries she had were thrown to the wind when she was given the chance to start and add her own expertise and flair to such a monumental project, Ross settling in himself once the unicorn was allowed to resume his usual schedule and given calculations to keep him busy. Luna and Scrivener did their best to supply them with everything they needed, and even Celestia authorized and asked for resources for them from other cities and parts of Equestria when necessary, out of both respect for Cowlick and perhaps her own half-hidden interest in the project. And with a pony like Cowlick working almost every waking hour of every day on the castle, other ponies were less hesitant to come forwards and offer their own services, and every laborer was needed. Along with ponies, the former Velites were working on the castle: the Ivory Elite that Luna had envisioned, hulking and enormous undead of metal and bone, glinting with black and silver plating that, while scratched and dented here and there, repaired itself rapidly whenever damaged. Their limbs were thick and blocky and ended not in hooves but in powerful talons, with wide, v-shaped chests and skulls plated with titanium, sockets glowing with faint, intelligent light and every one of them engraved with the symbol of the moon over their chest and shoulders. It had taken several weeks to build them, but the process of swapping the life force from the Velites that remained into the powerful constructs had been an easy one, with the skeletons all eager to cooperate: they were almost indestructible, but each Ivory Elite had a 'heart' of spherical crystal inside of it that powered it and kept the soul of the dead bound to the construct. As long as it existed, the Ivory Elite could literally piece themselves back together much as a Velite could from almost any amount of damage... but if that crystal was destroyed, then so was the construct. Cowlick found the golems fascinating and a little terrifying, and she used them for the hardest, most dangerous work around Enstasis to keep the other laborers safe. Ross, meanwhile, tried to avoid the Ivory Elite, as well as many of the other servants of darkness... although he was at least okay with Fluttershy's confidante Nirvana, and one or two of the Nightmares. Perhaps it was due to the way Ross saw the world differently than most ponies, but the unicorn could actually tell the difference between many of the servants of shadow, while even Luna and Scrivener sometimes had problems telling one Nightmare from another. It was eleven months into the project, when Enstasis was nearing completion, that tragedy struck. Ross had been running around the exterior of the massive castle, making measurements and estimates for Cowlick while she worked in the Nibelung camp, arguing with Greece over how to best polish off the inner workings of Enstasis, and Illyria was in one of the tents, catching a nap. The laborers knew their jobs and the officers around the Castle charged with keeping an eye on the work crews were doing their duties, but with the sheer magnitude of the black fortress meant it was hard to watch every little thing at once. Someone had failed to anchor a pillar into place, leaving it held up by little more than a few weak safety tethers that gave out at the wrong moment. The moment when Ross had been hurrying by, mumbling to himself and not noticing even as workers yelled at him and others simply scattered before the twenty foot pillar of thick stone had fallen and struck the unicorn squarely in the middle of the back, snapping his spine and crushing his lower body. They had heard the commotion from the camp, but Cowlick disregarded it until a pony came and told her what had happened. The moment she heard Ross's name, she rushed to Enstasis... only to find the unicorn wheezing slowly, whimpering weakly as tears rolled down his cheeks. His entire lower body had been crushed by the pillar... and the moment they tried to move it, he would die. Luna, Twilight Sparkle, and Scrivener Blooms arrived not long after to find Cowlick crying quietly as she held Ross's hoof against her face, while the unicorn only looked blank and scared and kept whispering to her that she didn't have to cry. He didn't seem to realize the calamity he was in... only that he was in pain, and even that had grown faint, his concern for Cowlick much greater than his discomfort. When the trio approached, Cowlick turned to them, begged and pleaded for them to save Ross with magic, with anything... and Twilight had only shaken her head and Luna had explained quietly, gently, that Ross's body would not heal from such damages. At most, he would literally be half a pony, and it was impossible to guess at what internal damages he had suffered on top of things... impossible to know what an agonizing, excruciating excuse for a life he'd live if they did try and save him. Yet Luna's eyes had gone thoughtful as she looked at Ross, and Scrivener had strode over and leaned down, silently breathing blue mist over the male's face, and Ross had blinked a few times before lethargically laying down as the smog numbed him and soothed him. Cowlick had seen the look in Luna's eyes, whispered that she would do anything to see Ross safe... and Luna had glanced at Twilight, who had closed her own eyes... and finally nodded when Luna had told her gently to perform a stasis spell. It was draining, but Twilight did it, freezing Ross completely like he was halted in time, and Luna moved the pillar with only a flick of her horn, revealing the crushed, broken lower half of Ross's form, half-buried in the dark but solid mire. With only another tilt of her horn and a silent order, two Nightmares had appeared, picked Ross's frozen-in-time body up, and vanished with him before Luna had looked at Cowlick and said gently: "We will save him, but in return he will become... special to us, and we shall be special to him. But do not fear, Cowlick, he will still love thee... as thou loves him. Only know that when he returns... 'twill not be entirely the same." Cowlick shivered, but knew it was too late, only whispered that all that mattered was Ross was alright, Ross lived... and Luna smiled gently and nodded. Then she had left Twilight to attend to Cowlick and to help get things back in order while she and Scrivener made their way to where Ross had been taken by the Nightmares that now eagerly awaited. Five days later, as Cowlick sat on the musty couch in her small house with a bucket of ice cream, a box of tissues, and a heap of empty beer bottles, there had been a knock at the door. And when Cowlick had gotten up to answer it, bedraggled, exhausted, thinking that nothing could elicit any kind of emotion from her anymore... she had found herself face-to-face with a winged unicorn. He was a tall and lanky stallion, handsome and pure-white, with a golden mane and tail that almost glowed and amber eyes, and Cowlick's jaw had dropped before the male smiled and said gently: "It's good to see you again, Cowlick." "Ross..." Cowlick whispered, and then she hugged him fiercely... and he hugged her back, kissing her forehead and pulling her close. The mare was ecstatic... although as time wore on, her spirits dampened slightly as she realized that Ross had been given new life, new power, but some things had been lost in trade. He spoke fluently, he was calm but his emotions seemed muted despite obvious affection for her, and while he retained his talents... he no longer had a cutie mark on his flank, which was as blank and white as the rest of his body. His magic was powerful, but parts of his personality had vanished, and Cowlick found herself missing the old, addled-up Ross... instead of this cultured, smart, handsome creature that, while it cared for her, was not as sweet... and bore a deep and unflinching loyalty to Luna and Scrivener, who referred to him calmly as 'Moon Blessed.' Time moved on: Cowlick felt like Ross was becoming more distant as Enstasis neared completion, and three days from their estimated date of completion, the engineer – looking haunted, sleepless, and torn between fear and anger – finally couldn't stop herself from storming into Ponyville to find Scrivener and Luna. She demanded to know what was wrong with Ross, why he was acting so different, but to her surprise Luna had only gently sat her down in the library and then willingly, softly explained what had happened. Ross's body had been broken and crushed, the damage too severe for most magic to fix... and even if Luna did pour all her strength into healing him, the chances were too great she would miss something, a rupture here or a vessel there, and Ross would die in a way even more painful than he had already experienced. Giving Ross a new shape, a new body, however, would circumvent that... and it also had allowed Luna and Scrivener to put forwards an idea they had long thought of between themselves. Moon Blessed: beneath the stars and the moon, they infused magic and their own blood into Ross, keeping him unconscious as over several days they reshaped his body like clay. During the day they left him tended to by demons that continued the ritual and kept him safe... during the night, Luna and Scrivener worked themselves on him, the winged unicorn proud of how much effort she had put into the process, of how they had worked out every detail, how she had called on every bit of magical know-how she had to ensure the process would be a success... and how drained they had been, but also how delighted when it had been completed, and Ross had finally awoken. Cowlick had been half-horrified, half-amazed, before she had trembled and shaken her head slowly. She had wanted Ross saved... but in saving him, they had changed him into something else. Something that sounded almost like a toy to her... and worse still, something that was loyal to them, not to her. They had taken her Ross away... and Cowlick had shoved herself away from the table with a curse and stormed out, managing to reach home before she had broken down and cried. Ross came to her that night, stayed with her, and Cowlick couldn't turn him away. The sight of him hurt, but as she rested her head against him, the smells, the sensations, it all comforted her. And Ross spoke to her gently, reassuring her, telling her it was all alright... telling her how much he still loved her, how neither Scrivener nor Luna ever made him do anything that he didn't want to. His loyalties were to both sides, and Cowlick felt herself falling into the abyss at his gentle words and the confusing emotions he was sending through her heart. Rainbow Dash was horrified by what had happened to Ross... in fact, for much of Ponyville, it was a turning point, a revelation that too many had started to fearfully suspect. In the first few months after the zebra incident, everyone had been happy: Celestia back in power and Ponyville proud to play host to the Queen, Luna and Scrivener protecting them from any threat and incursion – even celebrated once as great heroes when the two had driven off a dragon that attempted to attack the village – Enstasis providing jobs and the servants of the night proving much friendlier than so many had anticipated... but then, the rumors had started. At first, small things: how Twilight Sparkle had a new scar oddly shaped like a claw on one of her shoulderblades; how a pony saw a demon drag something into Sugar Cube Corners, but when she peered through the window she'd only seen Pinkamena calmly sitting at one of the tables, alone; how there had been whispers that Luna and Scrivener liked to 'experiment' on their own servants; how Celestia was turning a blind eye to everything her sister did, even protecting her perhaps too quickly, too righteously. Gossip spread like wildfire... and when Ross had been transformed into a Moon Blessed, it seemed to confirm everything that had been said. Suddenly all the stories were true, from how ponies whispered that Luna would give power to ponies who pledged souls and servitude to her... to the story of how a mare had wandered into the Everfree Forest during the day, only to come across terrible, enormous Nightmares that weren't burned by the sun, grinning and toying with her until she had stumbled out of the forest, hours later, terrified out of her mind. On the day of the completion of Enstasis, every pony was invited out of the village to witness the unveiling of the castle. Many ponies went out of sheer curiosity and because so many had put a hoof towards building it, and they joined an enormous crowd of Nibelung to stand in a dark mire, gazing silently up at the looming, towering structure. It was a dark monument, a colossal, terrible and beautiful structure with a dozen enormous towers that stood at varying heights around a massive central, octagonal spire that loomed higher into the sky than anypony had ever seen, secured in place by massive supports that ran back and forth like terrible metallic limbs from the other towers. And even without the towers, the castle was enormous: the battlements more than a hundred and fifty feet high and the outer walls only slightly-sloped inwards, all resting on a foundation that went almost as many feet into the ground below as it did above. And inside its black-stone halls, demons, Nightmares, and other servants of shadow already roamed back and forth, Illyria and several Nibelung striding around and double-checking every inch of the building as the Architect made notes on a clipboard about what furniture would be going where, among other things. Luna stood in front of the gates of Enstasis: a portcullis of blessed iron seventy feet high and almost as wide, the archway artfully rendered with etchings of dragons. Large enough for Scrivener Blooms to pass through even in full form into the wide courtyard beyond... and Luna licked her lips slowly as she glanced towards her husband. Their eyes met as he gazed back at her, smiling slightly and filled with as much joy as she was. Greece, meanwhile, had his head bowed and seemed solemn, even though Twilight was smiling warmly beside him as she gazed happily out over the crowd, and Cowlick and Ross were on the other side, Ross smiling and confident, Cowlick frazzled and breathing hard, her eyes lost and confused. And as Luna gazed affectionately out over the ponies and Nibelung that had gathered, she saw Celestia standing in the crowd, looking up at her with both a small smile... and what seemed like soft concern. Luna understood: Celestia disagreed privately with many of the things Luna and Scrivener had done over these long months, with the choices they had made. In public, she always stood up for her, defended her... but sometimes in private they would talk, debate, or argue: the topics ranged from how immoral it was that Luna was so willing to take advantage of other intelligent beings to see her own desires through, to how Scrivener needed to better control his feeding, to countless other things both large and small. The ceremony was short and simple: Luna declared Enstasis complete, said that she would offer sanctuary and refuge to anyone who came to its doors, and invited the ponies and Nibelung to come inside and stride through its grand halls and see it for themselves. But to her surprise, many ponies and Nibelung turned away, forming a large parade that made their way back to Ponyville, and only a few came forwards... Celestia and Scarlet Sage, Fluttershy and her Phooka companion, Pinkie Pie and Pinkamena, Rarity and Spike, Big Mac and Apple Bloom, and precious few others. Luna made the best of it, grumbling a little but instead taking the group on a guided tour through what had already become her favorite locations: the Garden, Luna's expansive private quarters, Celestia's own gold and white marble personal rooms, and several other places. She invited them to stay... but only Twilight and Celestia did, even Scarlet Sage asking if she could go into town with Apple Bloom for the night... and Luna simply didn't have the heart to say no to her cherished daughter. The first night in Enstasis was strangely long, and too much of it spent in silence as Scrivy, Celestia, Luna, and Twilight sat together in a spacious, comfortable den. Nightmare servants came by on occasion, but they were usually sent away... and Luna felt bitterness welling up in her heart as she sat back in this fortress she had desired and realized it was only a castle of solitude, muttering bitterly: "The ponies turn on me yet again..." For the ponies of Ponyville, the completion of Enstasis was not just a landmark, but a turning point. When they looked to the north, they saw mountains where Canterlot's ruins lay rotting... when they looked to the west, they saw a black castle that they felt was not there to protect them, but loomed and watched over them like a predator that at any moment could turn on them, like a living testament to the hungers of Luna and Scrivener, whom they had given a chance... and whom over the course of the year, had only plunged into deeper and darker depravity. Who they now feared had even somehow corrupted their beloved Queen as well as her apprentice. When Luna and Scrivener went into town the next day, they were greeted with hostility and open coldness that surprised them, and that angered Luna. Few ponies treated them like they had even a day ago: at Sweet Apple Acres, they were outright turned away from the gates by Applejack, who said shortly she had no time today for any visitors and too much work at the farm to help Luna and Scrivy out with whatever project they had in mind for her. Ponies ignored them and reviled them, and Scrivener could feel their anger, fear, and jealousy, and Luna's sharp ears more than once picked up mutters of 'they have their castle, what more do they want from us?' among other choice phrases. After a year of gossip, rumors, and Luna and Scrivener more and more seeming to take advantage of every situation that had arisen, the way ponies had changed around them... Ponyville itself had changed too. They made only one more stop, at Cowlick's home, and Luna all-but-shoved her way inside, saying curtly that she had a design she wanted Cowlick to bring to life, working alongside Greece and another Nibelung Architect she would recruit. And even half-drunk, scared and angry, Cowlick couldn't help but listen and be fascinated with what Luna announced... and hated the way she almost looked forwards the challenge it would pose. Over the next two weeks, Cowlick worked on this new project with Greece and an enchanter named Egypt in a safe room of Enstasis, often accompanied by Ross. Between them, it didn't take long for them to complete the designs and create a working prototype... a crystalline, prosthetic unicorn horn that could focus magic through it, tested by Ross first and then by Cowlick herself ,who held it in one hoof like a wand, listened to Ross's instructions as he gently guided her in how to use magic, and then stared as the crystal horn lit up before releasing a flash of light. It was a success... and Luna immediately ordered the production of more of these horns. The Nibelung went to work, but Cowlick found herself once more without a project, lonely in Ponyville, thinking of how happy she had been beside Ross, thinking of the things he had whispered to her over the time they'd spent together... and finally, Cowlick knew she had to make a choice, and a sacrifice. Cowlick was seen leaving Ponyville in the early morning, pale, haunted, and with a terrible determination in her eyes... and three days later, calmly walked back into Ponyville side-by-side with Ross, smiling, healthy... and difficult to recognize, because like the male, she too had become a pure-white Moon Blessed. It was her bandanna and her piercings that gave her away... after all, like Ross, her cutie mark had vanished. It sent ripples throughout Ponyville: Rainbow Dash was horrified, almost attacking Cowlick when he saw her, yelling at her and grappling with her until he was finally pulled off by several other ponies as Cowlick reacted with self-control and only a few short, snapped remarks in return. But that only made Rainbow Dash's anger worse: Cowlick had been a close friend, Cowlick had been rude, sharp, and never hesitated to dive into a fight... not a cold, controlled pony like he saw across from him. It was enough to make Applejack forbid Apple Bloom from seeing Scarlet Sage ever again, despite the growing-up filly's wails of protest and a sobbing proclamation that she loved her. It was enough that ponies who had been on the fence about Luna and Scrivener began to join the underground organizations preparing for the 'dark days ahead.' It was enough that Rarity and Spike turned off all their lights, sitting in the dark and scared of what was happening as ponies hammered on the door of the boutique, pleading with them to come out and help. It was enough that Fluttershy was forced to hide in her cottage, shivering and scared as Nirvana curled around her and other Phooka loomed through the house, ponies and Nibelung both yelling at her cottage from the road, terrified that she was in league with Luna. It was enough that even Celestia was forced to acknowledge in a whisper that what was going on was wrong, for all her loyalty and love for sister. It was enough that Twilight Sparkle became an outcast, unwanted, thought of as a spy for Luna's machinations, blamed for helping transform Cowlick into a 'monster,' forcing her to stay hiding in the library, terrified and shocked as rocks were thrown through her windows and ponies and Nibelung both shouted for her to go back to the dark prison where she belonged. But the true breaking point didn't come until late that night, when Luna rode into town on Scrivener's back, smiling coldly despite the rage burning inside of her at what her friends and servants had told her was going on in Ponyville... and terrified ponies ran yelling in fear as the full-sized Tyrant Wyrm simply tore through the gates of Ponyville after the citizens refused to open them. Ponies gathered in the square in front of the library, Twilight hesitantly emerging as the townspony's hatred and fear for those in their own ranks was forgotten by the sight of Scrivener Blooms striding towards them, Celestia walking quickly to the front of the crowd but only staring in equal shock as Luna grinned down at them, dark, vicious, her starry mane like blue fire that glinted with trapped spirits and Scrivener Blooms matching her grin on his own features, enormous and powerful, the collar of scar tissue around his neck seeming to glow as he halted in front of the crowd in the square. Luna gazed down imperiously over the ponies of Ponyville... and then she leaned forwards, saying in the echoing tones of Nightmare Moon: "Beloved subjects... we are here to give you all one final chance to redeem yourselves after your callous behavior. To avoid our punishment, we ask a small price: one unicorn, willing to give up their life... and their horn." Top ↑ Category:Transcript Category:Story